Hokage's Office, Night…

It was the night before team assignments. Sarutobi was hard at work creating the teams. Usually, it was an easy affair, but this year proved different. With Naruto passing, there were 28 Genin. He now intended to make 8 teams of 3 and 1 team of 4.

Give this year, he was finding he couldn't follow tradition as closely as before. Not if Iruka's observations were correct, and they likely were since he was an excellent teacher. He'd just put Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji together making the next Ino-Shika-Cho trio of the new generation.

This left him with seven profiles. Ordinarily, he'd have created the Hyuga-Aburame-Inuzuka trio as a tracking team, but that would leave Daichi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto on a team. With the intense rivalry Sakura had developed with Daichi, that would not facilitate growth.

Sasuke and Naruto should be on the same team because their mothers had been friends and they could facilitate what he other needed Beyond that, Naruto and Sasuke had a healthier rivalry. As for Daichi, he was friends with Naruto and had a friendly rivalry with Sasuke.

This left Sakura as the odd one out and in conflict with a member until he considered switching Hinata and Sakura's placements. With Sakura on Team 8, they could still be a tracker squad with a bit more combat prowess. After all, he'd heard good things about Haruno.

She had the potential for amazing Chakra control, larger Chakra then most Kunochi, and was tough. On top of that, she had potential to become the next Genjutsu mistress. So, who better that Kurenai Yuhi to instruct her?

In Kurenai's hands, he could see Team Eight becoming something special. Hinata's placement on Team 7 would not be without merit. The girl was gentle and would serve as excellent support to the three Shinobi until she came into her own.

Hinata was also friends with Naruto and Daichi, and she wasn't a fan girl of Sasuke. Given their myriad of skills and potential, they would make an excellent team. All they needed was the right Sensei. Kakashi Hatake was without a doubt the best choice.

"Yes, these teams will do nicely." The third thought.

With the decision made, he wrote up the teams for Iruka to announce.

Konoha Graveyard, Morning…

Daichi stood before the grave of his mother who had been buried next to the empty grave of his father. Not much to bury when you're crushed by the Nine Tails. It was a more noble death than it sounded.

Daichi nodded. "I'm officially a Shinobi mom and dad. Today, I get assigned to a team, and I'll do my best to make you both proud." He looked at the sky. "I should get going. Don't want to be late."

He took off for the Academy.

Streets of Konoha

Daichi met Naruto on his way to the academy.

Daichi asked, "Are you ready?"

"I've been ready for days." Naruto replied. "You think we'll be on the same team with Hinata?"

Daichi smiled. "We would make quite the team, but I can't say for sure. No one really knows how teams are made."

The two of them walked on until Daichi and Naruto noticed a poor excuse for a disguise.

They ignored it until the kid behind the disguise jumped out from behind it. He had short spiky brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing Naruto's old goggles and a long blue scarf. His clothing consists of grey shorts and a yellow shirt with a red Konoha symbol printed on it.

"Your mine Naruto!" The kid declared before face planting into the ground.

"What do you think you're doing Konohamaru?" Naruto asked.

Konohamaru ignored his question as he sat up. "That was a slick move Naruto. That is why I respect you as my rival."

"But I didn't do anything." Naruto said

Konohamaru stood. "Now fight me fair and square."

"Sorry, but my friend and I have orientation today." Naruto stated.

Konohamaru asked, "Orientation?"

Naruto pointed to his head band "That's right. As of today, I'm a ninja. Believe it!"

Konohamaru was in awe.

The friends walked on with Daichi asking, "Who was that kid?"

Naruto began to relate the tale of everything that happened yesterday from him getting his picture taken to meeting Konohamaru and speaking of everything they did. He particularly liked hearing how Naruto defeated 'that closet pervert'.

The Academy

Daichi and Naruto had meet up with Hinata, who wore her head band around her neck, and together they took their seats. Naruto couldn't help but grin.

Shikamaru, who wore his headband as an armband, was walking by them until he noticed Naruto. "Naruto, you can't be here unless you graduated."

"See this forehead protector." Naruto pointed at his head band. "I'm an official ninja now which means we'll be training together."

Shikamaru looked to Daichi. "Is he telling the truth?"

"It's true. Naruto earned that head band after beating Mizuki who tried to trick him into stealing a scroll." Daichi nonchalantly stated as he checked over his weapons.

Hinata smiled. "I'm glad Naruto passed."

Daichi did in fact have his real swords on him now. Shikamaru was surprised, but he didn't get much time to react as Sakura and Ino charged into the room. They wore their headbands as a headband and belt, respectively. Then they began to argue on who was first.

Naruto got that dreamy look on his face and stood up. He walked over to Sakura, and tried speaking with her; however, he was elbowed out of the way. Sakura then ran down to Sasuke in the first row who was staring out the window.

Sakura happily said, "Morning Sasuke. Mind if I sit with you?"

Sasuke ignored her. Ino joined them and began arguing with Sakura that she should get to sit with Sasuke because she was first. The other fan girl joined in saying that they arrived before the two of them.

Daichi honestly felt sorry for the guy so he nodded to Hinata and tilted his head to Sasuke. She got the message and nodded back. The Fusion member moved down, helped Naruto to his feet, and jumped into the seat next to Sasuke causing the fan girls to look at him.

"If we're going by who got into this spot first, then I'd say I arrived first." Daichi declared.

Sasuke smirked glad that someone was handling his fan girls for him and looked out the window again. Daichi saw this smirk and took it as a thank you.

"That's not fair Daichi!" Ino declared.

Sakura shouted. "Yeah, get out of the seat!"

Sasuke simply said. "I approve of him sitting there over all of you."

No one was going to argue with Sasuke, so most of them moved back to their seats.

Sakura glared at Daichi. "I'll get you for this Ryu."

"So, you're going to keep challenging me?" Daichi shrugged. "Nothing's changed then."

Sakura grit her teeth and walked off while Naruto rejoined Hinata in their row.

"I don't know why Daichi's so friendly with Sasuke?" Naruto thought. "I can't stand that Teme."

Being alone in that row with Naruto made Hinata blush.

Some Time Later…

Iruka stood before the class proud of all who passed. "Starting today you are Shinobi. You faced trials and hard ships to get where you are today, but that is nothing compared to what you will face now that you are Genin. Normally Genin would be grouped into three-man squads, but with our extra member, one squad will have 4. All squads are led by a Jonin. An elite ninja."

Daichi instinctively looked at Ino and Sakura. It was clear they were arguing over which one of them was most likely to be on Sasuke's team.

Daichi sighed. "I'll take anything so long as I'm not on the same team with Sakura and/or Ino." He shuddered. "There's a chance I could be on the same team as both."

"Groups of three." Sasuke thought. "That'd just slow me down." He glanced at Daichi. "If it were a two-man deal, I guess I wouldn't mind Daichi. At least he seems capable of pulling his own weight, but I'd prefer just to be a squad of one."

Naruto had his hand on his cheek. "I want to be with Sakura, Daichi, and Hinata, so a four-man team would be perfect. As long as Sasuke's kept far away, I'm happy."

"A team…" Hinata looked at Daichi and Naruto. "I hope I'm at least with Naruto if I can't be with both of them."

"Each squad is set up to balance strengths and abilities." Iruka began calling out teams and eventually said, "Team 10. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Your sensei is Asuma Sarutobi."

Choji Akimichi was munching on some chips. He has a rotund build, markings on his cheeks in the form of swirls, and spiky, brown hair that sticks upward. His attire consists of a green, short-sleeved haori, a light-green shirt, and black shorts.

He also wore a white scarf, hoop earrings, and bandages around his legs and forearms. His blue forehead protector was styled in a manner that allowed two tufts of his brown hair to poke out at each side.

Ino hung her head. "I'm with the fat Akimichi and lazy Nara. This day couldn't get any worse."

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome. Ino's going to be a pain to deal with."

"Next, Squad 8." Iruka continued. "Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka. Your Sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi." Iruka declared.

Shino Aburame is a fair skinned man with bushy, brown hair. His attire consists of dark sunglasses and a gray jacket with a high, upturned collar. His headband was on his forehead. He basically looked like anyone else from the Aburame Clan, but he was their heir.

Kiba Inuzuka has several physical traits more akin to animals. Like most of his clan, he has messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, and pronounced canine teeth. He also has the distinctive red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks.

His attire consists of dark greyish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood usually placed on his head. A small, white dog sat on his head. That was his companion.

Shino Aburame was worried. He had done his research and had concluded that teams would be handled the way Iruka had been dictating them. Something was clearly off this year. Every class he'd researched which had a Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame usually saw them on a team.

Logic dictated that Kiba, Hinata, and he would follow suit. For this not to be the case unnerved him. There was no logical or apparent reason why Hinata wouldn't be placed with them. Clearly, this would require more thought on his part.

Sakura was not happy about her placement. In fact, she was furious. Why wasn't she on Sasuke's team? Instead she was stuck with the human dog and beehive. She put her head down on her desk. At least she wasn't with Daichi.

Ino smiled. "At least Sakura isn't with Sasuke."

"Now for Squad 7. Our 4 Genin team. Hinata Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Daichi Ryu." Iruka stated. "Your Sensei will be Kakashi Hatake.

Naruto was both happy and angry. "I'm with Naruto and Hinata, but our fourth is Sasuke." He hung his head. "Why couldn't Sasuke be on 8 and we get Sakura?"

"I'm on a team with both Naruto and Daichi." Hinata looked at Naruto wide eyed and in disbelief. "I'm on a team with Naruto!"

"Thank goodness." Daichi sighed relieved. "This is the perfect team. Bonus, I've actually met Kakashi, and he seemed cool."

Sasuke closed his eyes. "At least Daichi's on the team and I'm not paired with any of those banshees."

Naruto could no longer contain himself, so he stood. "Iruka Sensei, why do great ninja like Daichi, Hinata, and I have to be on the same team as a sloth like Sasuke?"

Those words earned Naruto angry glares from every fan girl.

Iruka calmly replied, "Naruto, Sasuke had the best scores in every category while you had the worst. To create as balanced a team as we could, we put the best with the worst."

Sasuke smirked. "You must be really bad loser if they're putting you with both best and 2nd best."

Naruto stood up. "What did you say!?"

"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura stood up. "Knock it off Naruto. Just sit down and consider yourself lucky."

"I'm just ecstatic since I can handle Naruto and Sasuke going at it." Daichi stood up. "Come on now, we were just placed on the same team, so let's endeavor to get along."

Iruka cleared his throat silencing the Genin. "Now, that's all the teams assigned. After lunch, you will meet your Jonin Sensei. For the last time as your Sensei, class is dismissed."

Academy Yard

Sakura looked around for Sasuke, but he had taken off. "Sasuke, where are you?" she sighed. "Why did he go running off so fast? I thought since we're both Genin, we could have lunch together."

Daichi stood back as Naruto made his way over to Sakura. "Hey Sakura. I thought we could get lunch together. How about it?"

Sakura angrily asked. "Why would I eat lunch with you?"

"We're both Genin, so I thought maybe we could get lunch together." Naruto stated.

Sakura shook her head exasperated. "You're so annoying."

She walked off.

Once she was gone, Daichi approached his friend. "Hey man, I'm going home to grab some lunch. You and Hinata would be welcome to come. We'd just have to find her."

Naruto looked at him. "Sorry, but I just realized there's something I need to do."

Once he was gone, Daichi shrugged before turning back to the school and seeing Hinata come out. "Hey Hinata!" The Fusion member approached. "Sasuke and Naruto both took off, so why don't the two of us get lunch?"

Hinata bowed her head. "I'm sorry Daichi, but father would want to hear about my team."

Daichi shrugged. "It's fine. We're all a team now, and we already know each other well enough. Maybe I'll try looking for Sasuke and see if he wants to grab some lunch."

The two of them parted ways.

Streets of Konoha

Daichi had been searching for a bit when he finally spotted Sasuke leaning near a window eating a rice ball. He was about to call out to him when he noticed Naruto creep up to the window and jump Sasuke. The window closed, and he heard struggling.

The window opened and Sasuke climbed out with a smug smile as he ran across the roofs back to the academy. Only thing is that Sasuke never smiled meaning Daichi could guess what had happened.

"Damn it, Naruto." Daichi muttered to himself

Inside

Sasuke was tied up with tap over his mouth. "In class he couldn't even do a simple replication. How could he do a Substitution Jutsu with a full Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

He saw the window open and Daichi slipped in before cutting the ropes. "I got you Sasuke."

Sasuke got up and rubbed his wrist. "I guess I should thank you, but what are you even doing here?"

"I was looking for you to see if we could get lunch. You know, get to know each other a little better." Daichi began as he leaned against the wall. "Then I see Naruto jump you. He comes out transformed as you, so I came to check that you were alright."

"How did you know he wasn't me?" Sasuke asked. "Did he mess up the transformation?"

"In a way." Daichi replied. "The transformation itself was perfect, but he ended up smiling smugly." He crossed his arms. "I know you well enough. You only smirk."

"Very observant." Sasuke commented before moving towards the window. "You going to stop me if I go after the Dobe?"

"Nope. He deserves what's coming." Daichi sighed. "Just don't go to far."

Sasuke grunted before jumping out the window.

Daichi looked out. "Looks like I'm eating lunch alone."

He shrugged and jumped down deciding it was too late to make anything at home, but Ichiraku would do nicely.

Bench

Naruto had convinced Sakura he was Sasuke and was going in for the kiss when Sasuke came in and kicked him hard sending the Blond Genin to the ground dispelling the transformation.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted as she stood up before looking at Sasuke. "You stopped me from kissing him. Sasuke, you do…"

He held up an arm. "I only care about the Dobe not ruining my reputation." He looked back at her. "Now get out of here and go be with your team."

"Sasuke…" Sakura stated.

"I said go." Sasuke sternly stated.

Sakura ran off as Naruto got up. "Hey, you didn't have to be so rude."

Sasuke turned to him. "You don't have leg to stand on loser."

Naruto grit his teeth. "You don't either because I beat you at something. I was able to get the drop on you. In fact, why don't I practice some more." Sasuke got ready to fight as Naruto weaved the proper hand signs. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"That same trick." Sasuke thought "This time I'm ready for it."

The clones lunged at him until their stomachs began to grumble clearly upset. Each one fell to the ground before all the Naruto's rushed off to find a bathroom.

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and made his way to the classroom. "What a loser."